eiedel



@glitten tatrs iatrnt @fitta G. A. RIEDEL, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE AUTOMATIC BOlLER-FEEDER COMPANY, OFPENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Pate-nt No. 66,993, dated July 23, 1867 antedated July 9, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATIC BOILER-IEEDERS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

/ Be it known that I, G. A. IEDEL, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain Improvements in Feed-Water Apparatus; and I do herebydeclare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of thesame, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon.

My invention consistsof certain improvements, described hereafter, infeed-water apparatus, for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the3d day of July. 1866.

In` order to enable others to make and use my invention, I will nowproceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification,and in whichi Figure 1 is a side elevation of myA improved apparatus forfeeding water to steam-boilers.

Figure 2, a sectional elevation.

Figure a. plan View of lig. 1.

Figure 4, an inverted plan view of part of the apparatus; and

Figure 5, a plan view of part of the apparatus.

To a curved seat in'a pedestal or standard, B, secured to a base-plate,A, istted a. cylindrical valve, C, the ends of which project beyond thesides of the pedestal. To the pedestal A is secured a capvD, and in achamber or opening, .'v, in the centre of this cap, tits snugly, but soas to slide freely, a cylindrical plunger, E, which is pointed at itslower end, and bears against a cavity in the valve C at a point exactlyin the centre of the latter, and round the plunger i's coiled a spring,Zi, which is confined between the under side of'the cap B and a collar,a, on the said plunger. Acrossthe opening a: extends a flexiblediaphragm, c, the under side of which is directly in contact with theupper end of the plunger E. To one end of the valve O are connected twopipes, F F', and tothe opposite end are connected two pipes, G G', thepipes F G being connected to and communicating with a metal reservoir,H, and the pipes F' G' communicating with and being secured to a similarreservoir, H'. The pipes F F extend into the reservoirs, and nearly tothe tops of the same, and at-the upper end of each reservoir is avalve-cock, I. In the pedestal B is an opening, f, communicating withthe boiler at the water line of the same, and with the chamber xcommunicates a steam pipe, which also communicates with the boiler. Inthe pedestal B are openings e e', communicating with water-supply pipesor reservoirs, and an opening, d, communieating with the steam-space ofthe boiler, and in the valve C are ports z'z" and n n', the formercommunicating with the pipes G G', and the latter with the pipes F F.The variousiopenings and ports are so situated in the pedestal and inthe valve, that each of the4 ports n n' will, during a portion of theoperation of the machine, communicate with theA opening OZ, while eachof the ports z' z" will, during a portion of the operation of themachine, communicate with either the opening f or with one of theopenings e e'. The pipes F F' G G' are connected to the valve C at suchan angle to eachother that when one of the reservoirs is in a verticalposition., it will be at the limit of its downward motion, and the otherwill be elevated, and inclined at an angle of about thirty degrees. Tothe base-plate A, beneath each reservoir, is jointed a. cylinder, s, inwhich a hollow plunger, p, has a limited sliding motion, and through acap at the upper end 'of the plungerp passes a rod, l, which is jointedat the upper end to the adjacent reservoir, and has at its lower end anenlargement or piston o.

When the apparatus is in the position shown in fig. 1, the water passesthrough the opening e, port t', and pipe G into the reservoir H, and outof the reservoir H through the pipe G', port z", and openingfto theboiler, the steam passing into the reservoir H', from the opening d,through the port n.' and pipe F'. So long as there is any water in thereservoir H', its weight, withthat of the reservoir itself, willcounterbalance that of the reservoir H and the water with which it ispartially illed. 'Wham however, the reservoir H is nearly full, and the'reservoir H' empty or nearly empty, the former reservoir will descenduntil the reservoirs are level with each other, when all the ports orcommunications will be closed, as shown in iig. 2. If the reservoirswere parallel to each other, instead of being inclined, they would nowremain in the positionv shown in tig. 1 Owing to the angle at whichthereservoirs are placed, however, the reservoir H, as it descends, iscarried farther from the vertical line y y, in which is the centre ofvibration, while the reservoir H' is brought nearer this, line. Theleverage of the reservoir H, therefore, constantly lincreases as thereservoir descends, so that, before reaching the position shown in g. 1,it more than counterb'alances the weight of the reservoir H', and iscarried downwards until the ports z'z" and n communicate with theopeningsfe d. The water will now pass to the boiler from the reservoirII through the pipe G, port 2', and openingf, and will pass to thereservoir I-I through the opening e', port t", and pipe G', the steampassing to the reservoir H through the opening d, port n, and pipe F. Asthe manner in which the water is introduced into the reservoirs anddischarged into the boiler is very similar in this apparatus to themanner in which the same operations are effected in the apparatus forwhich Letters Patent of the Unit-ed States were granted to me ou theSd'day of July,l866, further :illusion to it will be unnecessary.Each-reservojr moves freely at the commencement of its descent, but itis retarded as the end of-the`rod L is brought in contact with the lowerend`ot` the plunger p, and the latter is forced into the cylinder s, theair being compressed in 'the cylinder and forming a cushion, whichprevents the too sudden arrest'of the motion of the'reservoir. Thepressure ofthe spring b is auch that when thel steam is shut oli' fromthe apparatus, the valve C will be held firmly in its seat, so as not tobe displaced by the movement of the reservoirs, if the latter areoperated. When the steam is admitted to the apparatus, it passes throughthe openingf, and exerts a pressure against the under side of the valveC, and also passing into the opening or chamber w, exerts a. pressureagainst the diaphragm c, and on the plunger E, forcing the' latterdownwards against the valve. The area of' the end of the plunger E isprecisely the same as that of the opening d, so that the pressureagainst the lower side of the valve. will always equal that upon the topof the same, however the steam pressure in the boiler may vary. Thevalve C will, therefore, always turn freely in its seat, without dangerof bei..g lifted from the latter by the pressure of the steam. In someinstances a. weight may be substituted for one of the reservoirs, carebeing taken to so arrange the same that the leverage shall increase asthe weight, or the remaining reservoir, descends. l

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thevalve C and steam-opening d, in combination with a plunger, E, which iscaused to bear on the valve by the pressure of the steam, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

2. '.lhe cylinder` s and hollow plunger 10,' in combination with thereservoir H and rod h, 'with its piston o, the whole being constructedand operating as and for the purpose set forth. v

Iii-testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

G. A.. RIEDEL.

Witnesses;

CHARLES E. FOSTER, WM. HALL Waxmm.

